1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system to regulate usage of the portable telephone in public, particularly to a system that regulates communication using radio waves that may adversely affect the human body in public.
2. Description of the Background Art
The use of portable telephones has exploded in the past several years because of the reduction in size of devices due to the advance in electronic technology, the development of infrastructure for wireless telephone communication in cities and in other areas, and the change in the life style of the youth. The number of portable telephones used in Japan is now substantially equal to or more than the number of the conventional fixed type telephone sets. Some pay stations that are scarcely used have been removed corresponding to the spread of such portable telephones.
In accordance with the spread of portable telephones, the problem of the undesirable effect caused by radio waves used as the communication media for the portable phones is noteworthy. Although it is not yet concluded that radio waves of the intensity level employed for portable telephones definitely and adversely affect the human body, the possibility cannot be denied. Furthermore, attention is focused on the problem that the radio waves employed in portable phones will adversely affect other electronic equipment.
A typical example is the problem that a pacemaker embedded in the heart of a human being suffering from arrhythmia, for example, may stop or go out of control due to the radio waves of portable phones. Such an accident would be a serious problem immediately affecting one""s life. This problem will be more serious when people of various conditions are extremely close to each other physically such as in a crowded train or the like.
In hospitals, aircrafts or in any places where many pieces of electronic equipment are used, erroneous operation of the electronic devices may be caused by the radio waves of portable telephones. Erroneous operation of such devices used in treatment and diagnosis in hospitals will affect a man""s life as in the case of the pacemaker. In the case of an aircraft, erroneous operation of the avionics equipment may jeopardize the lives of many people. Such problems must be solved urgently before portable telephones and electronic equipment are further spread in the society.
The problems caused by portable telephones are not limited to those related to electronic equipment. For example, in cinemas, theaters, concert halls and the like, the ring of a portable telephone from the audience during performance will spoil the atmosphere and annoy the people in the neighborhood. At the current stage, notice is made to switch off the portable telephone prior to performance at such places. However, the event of a portable phone ringing from the audience during performance is still encountered. There is a demand to solve such problems.
There are some facilities such as concert halls where acoustic effects are critical that have a noise wave emitted internally to disable reception of a portable telephone call in order to solve such a problem. In this case, the advantageous use of a portable phone such as achieving contact with a target party immediately will be lost. The need arises for the art to suppress the undesirable affect to one""s surroundings while making good use of the merit of the portable telephone.
In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide a telephone regulation system to regulate usage of a portable telephone and a portable telephone device employed in such a system so that one""s surroundings are not adversely affected.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a telephone regulation system to regulate usage of a portable telephone and a portable telephone device used in such a system, making good use of the merit of the portable telephone without adversely affecting one""s surroundings.
A telephone regulation system according to the present invention regulates the usage of a telephone terminal that effects conversation through radio waves. Each telephone terminal has the function to disable communication by radio waves upon receiving a predetermined first command through radio communication, and to enable communication through radio waves upon receiving a predetermined second command through radio communication. The telephone regulation system includes an approach recognition device provided in the neighborhood of an approach path to a predetermined region to transmit a first command through a weak wave to a telephone terminal passing the neighborhood thereof and entering the predetermined region, and a departure recognition device provided in the neighborhood of a departure path from the predetermined region to transmit a second command through a weak wave to the telephone terminal passing the neighborhood thereof and departing from the predetermined region.
When a telephone terminal enters the predetermined region, the first command is transmitted from the approach recognition device to the telephone terminal, whereby the telephone terminal disables communication through radio waves. Accordingly, communication by the telephone terminal using radio waves is regulated in the predetermined region. When the telephone terminal departs from the predetermined region, the second command is transmitted from the departure recognition device to the telephone terminal, whereby the telephone terminal enables communication through radio waves. Accordingly, the general conversation through radio waves is allowed outside the predetermined region. Since radio waves are not used within the predetermined region for communication, the possibility of adversely affecting electronic equipment or providing an unpreferable effect on the human being is low.
Preferably, each of the approach recognition device and the departure recognition device has the function to obtain a telephone number of the telephone terminal by communication with the telephone terminal passing the neighborhood by a weak wave. The telephone regulation system further includes a storage device to store the telephone number, and a manager circuit to govern the telephone number stored in the storage device according to the telephone number transmitted from the approach recognition device and the departure recognition device.
Since the telephone number of a telephone terminal located within a predetermined region can be governed by the manager circuit, the telephone terminal present within the predetermined region can be identified.
Further preferably, the telephone regulation system includes a call sense device to sense a call to a telephone terminal by an external radio wave, a match detection circuit connected to the storage device and the call sense device to detect whether the telephone number included in the call sensed by the call sense device matches the telephone number stored in the storage device, a calling device to call within a predetermined region the telephone number stored in the storage device corresponding to the detection of a match with the telephone number included in the call by the match detection circuit, and a call relay device to relay conversation between the telephone terminal responding to the call by the calling device and the telephone terminal issuing the call sensed by the call sense device.
When a call from an external source is issued with respect to the telephone number stored in the storage device, a call is issued to the relevant telephone number in the predetermined region. Conversation can be carried out if the telephone terminal responds to the call. Therefore, good use can be made of a telephone terminal as communication means.
Further preferably, each telephone terminal includes a device to switch among the function of carrying out conversation through optical communication, the function of carrying out communication through optical communication in response to a first or second command, and the function of carrying out communication by the general radio wave. The telephone regulation system further includes an optical communication device provided within the predetermined region to carry out optical communication with a telephone terminal. The calling device includes a device to effect a call towards a telephone terminal through optical communication using the optical communication device.
A call can be placed within the predetermined region through optical communication. The problem of adversely affecting electronic equipment and the like is suppressed since the call is not carried out using a strong wave.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a telephone regulation system regulates usage of a telephone terminal that carries out conversation through radio waves. The telephone regulation system includes a plurality of telephone terminals. Each telephone terminal has the function to disable communication through radio waves upon receiving a predetermined first command. The telephone regulation system further includes an approach recognition device provided in the neighborhood of an approach path to a predetermined region to transmit a first command through a weak wave to a telephone terminal passing the neighborhood and approaching the predetermined region. Accordingly, conversation using radio waves by a telephone terminal is regulated in the predetermined region.
When a person with a telephone terminal enters a predetermined region, the first command is transmitted from the approach recognition device through a weak wave. Conversation by the telephone terminal through radio waves is disabled in response to this first command. Therefore, the adverse affect on electronic equipment by radio waves of the telephone terminal can be prevented in the predetermined region.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, a portable telephone terminal device includes a first communication device to carry out communication through a radio wave, a second communication device to carry out communication using light, a telephone set device, and a switch device to selectively couple the first communication device or the second communication device with the unit of the telephone set in response to the command received through the first communication device.
Upon receiving a command via the first communication device, automatic switching between communication through radio waves and communication through light is allowed. The user can use the appropriate conversation scheme without particularly being aware of what medium is employed for telephone communication at the site where the user is currently located.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, a portable telephone terminal device includes a telephone set circuit, a radio communication device, an optical communication device, and a communication interface selectively coupling one of the radio communication device and optical communication device with the telephone set circuit in response to a command received via the radio communication device.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, a method of regulating conversation by a portable telephone includes the steps of maintaining a table of a telephone number of a portable telephone set present within a second region in a storage device by communicating through a weak wave with a portable telephone set passing the boundary between first and second regions, the portable telephone set being capable of communication by radio and communication by light, determining whether a telephone number corresponding to a call is stored in the storage device by searching the storage device in response to the call towards a portable telephone through external radio communication, calling a portable telephone set of the telephone number corresponding to the call in the second region using an optical communication device provided in the second region in response to determination of a telephone number corresponding to the call stored in the storage device, and relaying the call to the responding terminal telephone set in the second region in response to the response from the portable telephone set.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.